


Astronomus

by kenirubes



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Adventure, F/M, Fanfic, Fantasty, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2019-02-04
Packaged: 2019-09-15 05:11:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16927116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kenirubes/pseuds/kenirubes
Summary: In which a nurse is shocked to discover a man with two hearts arrives at the hospital she works at, and soon finds herself whisked away into his world of adventure and excitement.





	1. Chapter 1

IT HAD BEEN a rather hectic night at the St. Joseph Hospital in Bangor, but no more than usually expected for the nurses and doctors working the graveyard shift. Women going into labor at random hours of the night, the typical drunk college student who had an accident at a party, a few heart attacks, the usual works. The nurses were used to seeing patients come in at all hours with all sorts of odd ailments, and some of them even placed bets to see who could get the weirdest patient of the night at times when it was a particularly odd and busy shift.

This night however came with the strangest patient one nurse had ever seen or had to deal with since becoming a nurse nearly a year ago. A ragged looking man was brought in by a rather confused group of teenagers who had no idea who he was, or how he ended up looking like he had collapsed in the nearby park where he was found. The nurse asked a nearby intern to help her get him into a room so she could figure out who he was and what the issue was. She wouldn't let the boys leave however, as she wanted to have them give her more information so she could make sure she had all the details they had to make her job slightly easier.

Just from glancing at the man, the nurse could tell he looked exhausted and likely dehydrated, but still ran through her usual check up list like protocol said to do. Nothing stuck out to her until she discovered that he had a rather odd heartbeat. Her brows furrowed together in confusion as she moved the stethoscope around his chest. It sounded like he had double he amount of heartbeats, which made the nurse grow concerned as she pulled the stethoscope away and out of her ears.

She glanced over at the clock on the wall and was surprised to see it was close to 3 am. Her shift would be over soon, but she had doubts that she'd leave on time as she still had to figure out who the man was once she finished running tests. Until she knew exactly what happened, she had IVs hooked into the man to get some fluids pumped into him, and a heart rate monitor in hopes of detecting anything wrong with his heart.

The man had stirred slightly when the nurse went to fix an IV, and she stopped to stare at him. His dark brown hair was a disheveled mess, and his fringe fell over his eye as it stuck to his skin from some sweat that the nurse assumed was from earlier. He looked extremely pale, and he had random cuts along his arms and chest. She wasn't sure if that's how his skin color usually was, but she was starting to assume he was pale due to being dehydrated. She couldn't help but notice how lanky he was when she and another nurse got him into a hospital gown to make things easier, and saw that he seemed to be in need of a good meal. The IVs seemed to be doing some good for him as his vitals were starting to change.

She had been so focused on her patient in front of her and in her own train of thought that when she turned around she jumped in surprise when she was greeted by a rather serious looking man in a suit.

"Excuse me sir, you're not supposed to be back here. Unless you know who this man is, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." The nurse spoke in a stern voice as she laid her clipboard down at the foot of the bed.

The man in the suit didn't change his expression as he pulled a badge out of his pocket and showed it to the nurse, and quickly stowed it away back into his pocket once she knew who he was.

"Canton Everett Delaware the fourth, FBI. I need to know the condition of that man you're examining." The man now known as Canton had an authoritative voice, which had spooked the young nurse when he first started talking.

"Uh, Mr. Delaware, how did you get in here so quickly? He was only just brought in, I don't even know who he is yet. His file isn't even done yet, and only a few people know he's here."

Canton put his badge away and gave her an unamused look. "How quickly I arrived here is none of your concern, I need to know the condition of that man nurse, uh-."

"Marks. Ruby Marks." She cut him off. "Since you seem so adamant to know what's wrong with the man, then perhaps you can tell me who he is. It would make my life so much easier, and it would make this process go so much easier as well. But if you won't tell me who he is, then you can leave and let me find out for myself. FBI or not, you won't stop me from doing my job and helping this man."

The agent sighed and looked over at the man Ruby had been examining. Without saying a word, he turned on his heel and shut the door of the room they were in and locked it, causing the nurse to panic a bit.

"I-Is he some sort of criminal? Is that why the FBI wants to know how he is?"

"No ma'am. What I'm about to tell you is strictly confidential information, and you cannot tell a soul anything you are about to hear." Canton instructed her, and pointed over at the subject of their discussion. "That man over there goes by the name the Doctor. We don't know his real name, but that's what we're going with. Now, don't bother running any tests because you found something odd about his heart, he's got two of them. That's right, two hearts that work in sync. Are you following along so far?"

Ruby found it hard to answer Canton as she went from panicked to shocked again, her body frozen in its place as she tried to process what she had just heard. Two hearts? That wasn't physically possible, unless anatomy had changed and she suddenly wasn't made aware of it. And the Doctor? That had to be a nickname. She couldn't make a file without his name and a wide range of information, and so far nothing made sense to her.

"W-Why are you telling me these things? Is t-this some sort of FBI test?" She questioned as she glanced over at her patient. "This feels like a test. There's no way any of that sounds even remotely possible."

"I'm not even at the best part Mrs.-"

"Ms. Marks. And just call me nurse Marks. Please."

Canton looked annoyed at the fact that he had been interrupted by Ruby again, but continued on in telling her about her mysterious patient.

"Like I was saying, you haven't even heard the best part." Canton said unenthusiastically. "That man isn't really a man. He's the last of an alien species called the Timelords, and that's why everything needs to be confidential."

Ruby opened her mouth to speak again but closed it when the agent picked up the clipboard and threw away all of the papers she had filled out and replaced them with a different set of file information. Clearly, he was prepared for something like this. She wanted to ask more about the Doctor, but kept her mouth shut as she didn't want to annoy Canton any further. Instead, she planned on working a morning shift so she could keep an eye on her patient.

"Now, here's a number to contact me with. Call me as soon as he wakes up, I need to make sure he's okay." Canton's demeanor had changed, and he suddenly looked concerned as he handed Ruby a small card. "Only call me if he wakes up or if something bad happens. Until then, not a word to anyone else about this. There will be consequences if you do."

Ruby nodded slowly before looking down at Canton's contact information as he left the room, leaving the door shut but unlocked.

'What just happened?' Ruby thought to herself as she tucked the card away in the pocket of her scrubs. 'There's no way any of that could have been true. This has to be some kind of messed up joke.'

The Doctor's file that Canton had left made him out to be a completely normal man, with what was wrong with him left blank for Ruby to fill out. This file told her that his name was John Smith, and he was from London, England. It included all of the typical information she'd need, such as his height, weight, date of birth, any allergies and much more. She couldn't believe that the agent just carried this around with him, something had to be going on. At this point, it seemed like a joke gone too far to her, but she couldn't confirm anything until her patient woke up, which she hoped would happen soon. Ruby wanted to wake him up, but she knew better than to do something like that. She'd just have to be patient and hope that he'd be awake by morning, that way she could make sure he knew he was in a hospital and so he could get a semi decent meal to eat.

Ruby let out a quiet sigh and finished filling out the forms so she could get them turned in. She wanted the night to go quicker, but as much as Ruby wanted to, time was simply something she couldn't control.

Once she had the forms turned in to be filed, Ruby grabbed herself a cup of coffee and tried making herself comfortable in a chair next to the Doctor's hospital bed. She had a long rest of the night ahead of her, and the bad coffee and uncomfortable chair made her feel less than excited about the morning. Perhaps she would get lucky and he would wake up within the next few minutes, but unfortunately for her that meant dealing with Canton again, and that wasn't something she looked forward to.

Until then, she was left with her bad coffee and her phone with a low battery percentage to keep her company. Her fingers itched to open up her group chat with her two closest friends, Hannah Young and Millie Llewellyn, and to tell them of the odd situation she was in. As she stared at her open phone screen, the mention of the consequences she'd face lingered in the the back of her mind, causing her to close her phone and tuck it away.

Ruby would simply have to wait everything out. Hopefully she could find the patience to do so, her well being seemed to depend on it now.


	2. Chapter 2

RUBY HADN'T REALIZED that she had dozed off not long after she finished her coffee, it had never been the best at keeping her awake. For a short moment after waking up, she had forgotten she was not in her bed and was still at the hospital asleep in a chair next to a patient's bed.

The events from earlier came flooding back to her as she stood up from the chair and stretched, her body feeling rather sore from being in an uncomfortable chair for nearly five hours. She made a mental note to ask someone about replacing the chairs as she checked her phone, only to be disappointed as it had died while she slept. Her reflection on the screen showed how exhausted she was, her blue eyes still slightly drooping due to her not being fully awake, and her hair was in need of a wash. She had planned on showering when she got home, but her plans had been changed unexpectedly, so her dark brown locks would have to settle for a quick ponytail until she got home.

A stirring from the hospital bed caught her attention and caused her to snap out of her thoughts. The man supposedly called the Doctor looked slightly better due to the fluids that had been pumped into him during the last few hours, which gave Ruby hope that he would be waking up soon so she could get some information out of him. She didn't plan on calling the agent right away as she wanted to give her patient some time to adjust to his surroundings and to get some food into his system. To her, making sure her patient was okay was more important than notifying a man she didn't fully trust that he was awake.

As Ruby turned to leave the room for a moment, a small groan stopped her. The groaning continued as she faced her patient, who was wiggling his fingers and slowly opening up his eyes. She was surprised to see his eyes were a lovely green and had a soft look to them.

"W-Where am I? Am I in a hospital again? Was I injured?" He questioned with a strong British accent.

Ruby glanced down at the clipboard attached to the foot of his bed and grabbed it. "You're at St. Joseph's in Bangor. You do know Bangor is in Maine, correct?"

The man looked confused for a moment before nodding, his eyes focusing on her face as if he was studying it.

"Some teenagers found you last night in a park, completely passed out." Ruby looked down at the clipboard, running her finger over it to see what info she needed to ask about to confirm the truth. "You were very dehydrated and extremely exhausted. You clearly haven't been taking care of yourself sir."

She looked up at him as he sighed softly. The exhaustion made him look slightly aged, and his eyes had told her he had seen too many things in his lifetime.

"Am I able to leave now? Plenty of things to do, no time to waste!" The man said, tossing the thin hospital blanket off of himself and stood up.

He had a good seven inches on her, but Ruby didn't let that stop her from getting him back into the bed by firmly putting her hands on his shoulders and slowly pushing him back down so he was sitting.

"I'm afraid you can't leave yet Mr. Smith. I still have to check how you're doing and you have to get food into your system."

"Why are you calling me Mr. Smith? That's not my name. My name is the Doctor." He furrowed his brows together as if he didn't enjoy being called that.

Ruby cleared her throat and glanced at the clipboard again. "Because I was told it was your name. After you were brought in, someone came in to confirm your identity."

The Doctor's eyes trailed down to the clipboard and he reached over to pick it up. A thin and curious brow shot up as he flipped through the papers.

"Who gave you this? Some of these things are absolutely not correct!" He exclaimed tossed the clipboard onto the bed.

"Erm, a man by the name of Canton Delaware. I'm supposed to call him now that you're awake, but I wanted to give you some time to wake up and eat." She reached for the clipboard to take it from him. "I'm warning you now, the food isn't the best here, but it's still edible."

The Doctor tightened his grip for a moment on the clipboard but loosened it when he noticed Ruby gave him a desperate look. All she wanted was to go home but she still had to call Canton to alert him of what was going on. Ruby had a long to-do list that had to be completed before she could enjoy the one day she got off during the week, and she had a feeling that once she called the agent, she'd be stuck at the hospital even longer.

He ran a hand through his fringe, pushing it off of his forehead as a small smile made its way onto his lips. "I didn't catch your name."

Ruby pointed to her name tag as she hooked the clipboard onto the end of the bed before poking her head out of the room to request a breakfast be delivered to the room.

After making sure breakfast was on its way, Ruby made her way to a nearby receptionists desk and borrowed a phone from one of the ladies working at the desk. She pulled the card given to her out of her scrubs and dialed the number, tapping her fingers against the desk as the phone rang until she was greeted by a voicemail greeting. It wasn't Canton's voice, just a typical automated one that took forever to get to the beep. Ruby left her message for him to hear later and returned the phone to the receptionist before returning to the Doctor.

"Hello you! Is breakfast on its way or am I free to leave?" His tone was chipper and cheerful, which Ruby found to be a bit odd.

"Someone's perky, but you can't leave yet. Still have to wait for Canton to get here. I don't know why he's so desperate to know your condition, but I'm sure I'm not allowed to ask due to him being an FBI agent. Secret business?"

The Doctor chuckled and shook his head. "Technically it isn't secret business, but if Canton is acting like it is, then I won't say anything."

Ruby nodded slowly and glanced at the clock. Her shift was just about over and deep down, she wished she could make time go faster so she could shower and crawl into bed. Her dog, a Chow Chow by the name of Ace, was likely waiting by the front door of her apartment so he could have his breakfast and usual morning kisses.

"Well, there isn't much I can do now. Someone will drop off your breakfast and I'm sure Canton will come as soon as he listens to my voicemail." She tried stifling a yawn as she spoke, and covered her mouth with her hand when she couldn't fight it. "Uh, pleasure meeting you Doctor. And if another nurse looks at your chart, it's very likely he or she will keep you in bed because there's no way you're better from being that exhausted and dehydrated. You do have some random bruises that don't look too bad, but I personally believe another day or two here would be good for you. Just to make sure you're alright is all. Don't want to take the risk of you passing out again as soon as you leave."

The Doctor watched her quietly, almost like he was studying her face before nodding slowly. In return to his nod, Ruby gave him a thumbs up and left the room to check out with the receptionist and to head home.

Ruby had only just gotten to the elevator when she was greeted by her adoptive father, Dr. Jared Edwards, walking out of it. It had slipped her mind that he was working today but she wasn't surprised as he was at the hospital more than she was as her father was the head of surgery.

"What are you doing here? I figured you'd be home by now." Jared questioned with a raised brow.

"Patient came in and I had to keep an eye on him for someone. No biggie." Ruby shrugged and made her way into the elevator. "I'll probably stop by for lunch later, I need to sleep first though. Too tired to function properly right now."

"I can tell, you look like a mess. Should hurry along and get home before you start scaring the patients. Can't have that happening." 

Ruby rolled her eyes playfully but knew he was right. She felt lucky that her apartment wasn't that far of a drive so she'd be back in no time.

As soon as the elevator doors closed and she hit the button for the first floor, Ruby slumped against back with another yawn and closed her eyes for the ride down. The thought of her bed was making her more tired but she knew she'd be there in no time.

The hunt for her car in the parking garage was quick and easy as she always parked close to the exit. Easier to get in and out. She unlocked it and sunk into her seat and listened to the sound of the rain outside of the parking garage. Rain always manage to lull her to sleep, so she knew she'd sleep better once she showered and tucked herself into bed.

The drive back to her apartment was quick and easy and Ruby could already hear the pattering of her dog's feet against the wood floor of her apartment as she got her keys out of her bag. Ace always greeted her when she came home and was eager to see her every time the door opened.

"Well good morning to you too." Ruby crouched down with a grin as she let her dog lick all over her face. His tail wagged like crazy as he got his slobber all over her face, which she didn't mind as she knew it was his way of showing his love. "I know you're hungry, let me feed you so I can sleep."

Ruby stood up with a small grunt and stretched her arms above her head as she made her way into her rather small kitchen. The size didn't bother her as she only lived with her dog, and it was easy to get around when she was cooking. She grabbed the bag of dog food sitting next to her fridge and filled his bowl with a large yawn. She could almost hear the shower calling her name but her bed seemed to be louder. A shower wouldn't hurt after she took a nap, it's not like she was in a rush to be anywhere. Her days off of work were usually used for sleeping anyway so the only thing she had to do besides take a shower as eat lunch with her father.

Ace happily trotted over to the bowl and buried his face in it as Ruby made her way into her bedroom. The bed was nicely made and nearly half of it was covered with pillows, just the way she liked it. Comfortable and beautiful and all for her.

Her scrubs were tossed into a hamper in the corner of the room as she slipped on an over sized t-shirt and some shorts. She crawled into her bed without hesitation and let herself sink into the mattress. A fresh wave of tiredness washed over her once she let herself relax and get comfortable. Her mind began to go blank as she dozed off, but the Doctor seemed to linger in the back of her mind for some odd reason. Ruby didn't let it bother her as she completely fell asleep. There no reason for him to be on her mind but that wasn't an issue.

Her only issue at the moment was her sleep being interrupted by a sudden knocking on her front door and her dog barking loudly to announce to Ruby that there was a surprise guest now waiting for her.


	3. Chapter 3

ACE'S BARKING HAD gotten louder as he made his way into Ruby's bedroom, announcing to her that there was a guest waiting for her to open the door. His insistent barking made her groan tiredly as she covered her head with a pillow to block out the noise. To her disappointment, the knocking and barking continued until Ruby got up and opened the door and was greeted by her roommate and closest friend, Bentley Evans.

"What on Earth are you knocking on the door for? You know that sets the dog off." Ruby frowned at her friend and stepped to the side so he could walk in.

"Well excuse me for leaving my key here. I texted you like a million times to let me in." Bentley spoke with a roll of his eyes as he patted Ace's head softly and made his way to the couch.

Ruby's frown softened but stayed on her face as she was still annoyed for her roommate waking her up. Bentley seemed to find joy in annoying her, but he had always been like that. They grew up together so they had a sibling-like bond, even after they tried dating and broke up after a month. He always seemed to remind her of her older brother Max, so that was probably another reason why they got along so well.

"What's got you so cranky?" Bentley raised a brow after taking note of the look on Ruby's face.

Ruby sighed heavily and walked over to an arm chair by the couch and sat down, rubbing her face tiredly. "Long night at the hospital... You literally wouldn't believe what happened."

"Try me. I know you and your family, anything can happen with you guys." Bentley chuckled quietly and leaned into the couch cushions.

Ruby went silent, debating on whether or not she should actually tell Bentley what happened. Her situation was so out of the ordinary that it didn't seem believable. Bentley knew Ruby didn't lie, but dealing with an alien for a patient seemed like a cheesy movie plot rather than real life.

"Hey Rubes, are you gonna tell me?" Bentley questioned his roommate as he leaned forward to look at her.

She snapped out of her thoughts and sighed again. "Let me go get my phone first. I need to check something..."

Ruby quickly got up and entered her room, and noticed her phone screen was lit up. Her eyebrows furrowed together as she saw she had multiple missed calls from the same unknown number. She had to assume it was Canton, so she wasn't too surprised when she listened to all of the voicemails he left demanding that she call him back for the sake of the Doctor. Why this agent was desperate to get her attention over this was something the nurse couldn't understand. All she did was pump fluids into a dehydrated and exhausted man and suddenly she was the center of attention for the man responsible for her patient.

She was almost convinced that everything was some elaborate prank her brother Max had planned, but it seemed to be too complex for him to even pull off. Max was a smart man, but even he couldn't come up with something as wild and big as her current situation.

Letting out a heavy sigh, she turned on her heel and walked back into the living room. Bentley had gotten distracted by his phone, so he almost hadn't noticed when she sat down next to him on the couch.

"I think I'm actually losing my mind." Ruby said in a deadpan voice as she sunk into the couch. "Either I'm so sleep deprived that I imagined last night, or I actually had an alien as a patient."

"I'm sorry, but what?"

"An alien Ben. I had a patient with not one, but two hearts last night. He was exhausted and dehydrated, so he was basically there to just sleep for the night and get some fluids pumped into him. I mean, that's not uncommon, coming to a hospital for that. Happens to the best of us." Ruby stared at the television on the opposite wall, which was turned off. "But an FBI agent literally came in with a fake file on my patient, claiming he was an alien called 'The Doctor' and that I couldn't tell anyone what was going on."

The usually talkative Bentley was now completely silent. He was trying to process what Ruby was saying, but it made no sense to him.

"The man had two hearts. I checked when he was sleeping. I thought it was an odd heartbeat at first, you know? But no, it was literally two hearts and other stuff the agent told me about. I was supposed to call him when the Doctor woke up, and I did but I didn't get an answer. Now I have a bunch of missed calls from the agent and I'm too scared to return them."

"You? Scared of something? That's a first." Bentley joked in a slightly weak voice. "Are you sure you didn't dream about this?"

Ruby slowly shook her head and held up her phone, showing all the missed calls she had from Canton. "Not a dream. This actually happened and I don't know how to process it."

"Well neither do I... Maybe some food to help with the process? Coffee?"

"Food and coffee actually sound amazing right now." She tossed her phone to the side and got up from the couch.

Bentley followed after, and soon the pair were lounging in the living room with pancakes and eggs while discussing different theories about what was going on. Getting some food into her system made Ruby feel slightly better, and the coffee was waking her up more, which she wasn't upset about. She may have been relieved to get some sleep, but she had been oddly restless all night so it wasn't much of a good sleep. But in the end, bad sleep is better than no sleep in her opinion.

"Okay, what about this- this whole thing is a test created by the government just for kicks? Sounds like something they'd do. There's literally an FBI agent involved here!" Bentley spoke into between bites, waving his forks around with slightly wide eyes.

"I dunno... Maybe Max really did come up with the prank to end all pranks?" She questioned, her focus more on her food than her friend. "We haven't pranked each other in a long time, maybe he got bored?"

"Oh please, Max isn't that clever and we both know that. I say we just stick with the whole government test idea and call it a day. There isn't any other theory that sticks as well as the others."

Ruby shrugged halfheartedly as she finished off her coffee. "Doesn't really matter. I doubt I'll see either of them again, Canton hasn't called again so it's safe to assume they're gone... Don't tell anyone anything that I told you. I wasn't even supposed to tell you but no one was here to stop me."

Bentley raised a brow and set his fork down. "Who am I gonna tell? The only person who I'd even mention this to would be Max... Maybe your sister. Probably just Max. I'm not sure yet."

Ruby rolled her eyes and playfully punched him in the shoulder. "You can't even tell Max. He definitely wouldn't believe me. That's not even funny Ben."

Bentley put his hands up while laughing, then gathered the plates and silverware he and Ruby had used for their late breakfast. Eating and talking had made Ruby feel better, but she knew she still had to meet up with her father during the day at the hospital. She had been debating all morning over whether she should tell him what was going on, she figured he'd know what to do. At the same time, she didn't want her father to think she was crazy for discussing something so impossible. Ruby almost debated on telling her birth father, Michael Marks, instead. He'd likely believe her, but then again he wanted to stay on her good side to try and earn her trust again.

Ruby spent another silent ride in her car, this time heading to the hospital once she had forced herself to make herself look decent enough to be presentable in public. A million thoughts had begun to race through her mind as she made her way through the hospital parking garage. She had been so deep in her thoughts that a voice trying to get her attention made her jump nearly a foot into the air.

"Hello you! I was hoping I'd run into you again!"

The voice was rather chipper and very British.

The voice of a patient Ruby had definitely hoped to not see again, but was now stuck talking to. She slowly turned and plastered a fake grin on her face.

Time for her to fake it like her life wasn't suddenly spiraling out of proper comprehension.

**Author's Note:**

> First proper attempt of a Doctor Who fanfic, apologies if it isn't the best. I hope you guys enjoyed it!


End file.
